Should the drinking age be lowered?

[Salukulady]

And I would like to know what might happen to him if he refuses to register when he's 18.

For starters, he won't get any sturdent loans or financial aid for college.....

That's not a problem, he's either headed to the local junior college or the air force......I guess if he goes to the air force he's automatically registered. I'm just curious if it's considered breaking federal law, what happens to the many who don't bother to register.....can they go to jail? There have had to be some pacifists who took a stand on this by now. Or does the government just look the other way, and let it slide?

[Wino you know]

Are 18 year olds responsible enough to drink?
Are 50 year olds responsible enough to drink?



Like so many things---depends on the person.

GREAT point, Molly.
Many 18 year olds ARE responsible enough to drink and many 50 year olds AREN'T.

But, in cases such as this, a line has to be drawn somewhere.
21 is fine.
I voted "no."
Leave it as is.

[sonofabeach]

maybe the adult age should be lifted to 21

[ragtopW]

Many college presidents are for it saying it'll cut down secret binge drinking. MADD is against it. When you're 18 you can fight in the war, get married, even hold public office.

So.... should an 18 year old be allowed to legally drink?

I say yes.

please do not get me started on the Hypocrisy of MADD..


I say yes..

[dean_siu]

I don't think there should be a drinking age period. The only reason 12-14 year old kids hit the bottle is to be rebellious. Let them drink and they'd have one swig of tequila and never touch the stuff again for many years!

[SchoolGirlHeart]

And I would like to know what might happen to him if he refuses to register when he's 18.

For starters, he won't get any sturdent loans or financial aid for college.....

That's not a problem, he's either headed to the local junior college or the air force......I guess if he goes to the air force he's automatically registered. I'm just curious if it's considered breaking federal law, what happens to the many who don't bother to register.....can they go to jail? There have had to be some pacifists who took a stand on this by now. Or does the government just look the other way, and let it slide?

I honestly don't know. My son didn't register until he was almost 19, but if he'd wanted to work for the government or get a loan he'd have needed to. I know if they actually have to institute the draft this parent of 3 boys is going to HOWL about girls not having to to register and be drafted. We want equality? We should be equal here, too.....

[ragtopW]

Only when the driving age is raised to 18, too.

Oooh! I could buy into that, too. Although, I would like my children to have licensed driving experience before I send them off to college. Kinda like what OCG mentioned.

I drank for three years on a fake.. sort of
ID.. before I had a drivers license, which I got at 18..

[ph4ever]

And I would like to know what might happen to him if he refuses to register when he's 18.

For starters, he won't get any sturdent loans or financial aid for college.....

That's not a problem, he's either headed to the local junior college or the air force......I guess if he goes to the air force he's automatically registered. I'm just curious if it's considered breaking federal law, what happens to the many who don't bother to register.....can they go to jail? There have had to be some pacifists who took a stand on this by now. Or does the government just look the other way, and let it slide?

I honestly don't know. My son didn't register until he was almost 19, but if he'd wanted to work for the government or get a loan he'd have needed to. I know if they actually have to institute the draft this parent of 3 boys is going to HOWL about girls not having to to register and be drafted. We want equality? We should be equal here, too.....

I believe girls should have to register - what's fair is fair. I found a article about the lack of registration in Hawaii and it gave the following penalities

Failing to register is a federal felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, although there has not been a prosecution in the past 19 years

http://starbulletin.com/2008/04/13/news/story07.html

[popcornjack]

(did I mention I'm Scottish?)

Ah Jack, just because you're FULL of scotch it doesn't mean you're Scottish.

If that were true, I'd be Shittish.

Terry, paternal grandmother sailed over from Glasgow at age 3. At age 16, the family had had enough and decided to go back. She said "Pi$$ off" and stayed.

[SchoolGirlHeart]

(did I mention I'm Scottish?)

Ah Jack, just because you're FULL of scotch it doesn't mean you're Scottish.

If that were true, I'd be Shittish.

Terry, paternal grandmother sailed over from Glasgow at age 3. At age 16, the family had had enough and decided to go back. She said "Pi$$ off" and stayed.

My great-greandmother was from Paisley. We could be related.

[nutmeg]

Been there, done that.

The drinking age was lowered to 18 when I was 18. It was raised back to 21 when I was 21.

Didn't matter to me. I didn't drink much then (or now for that matter)

I know better ways to use calories

I'm ambivalent about this. I'd hate to see kids start drinking ealier...however if they are going to, they are going to anyway...

[ejr]

I was in college when the drinking age was lowered back in the 1970s. And while there certainly was drinking, it was less of a problem there than it is today with it illegal.

For college presidents, this issue also involved enforcement and liability issues. When I was a college student we could drink openly at college events; now, if you are seen drinking at a college event, staff are expected to intervene. This is forcing the drinking into some level of secrecy that is problematic.

I actually had a conversation about this earlier tonight with a friend who is in a 12 step program for drinking, and he firmly believes the law should be changed.

Lowering the age won't increase the drinking, but will allow it to be out in the open. Think of the underage college student who can't drink on campus, and who is going to drink no matter what, so they must go off campus, risking, quite possibly, driving while intoxicated.

[Brown Eyed Girl]

I'm on the fence on this one too. Like Brad said, growing up in a large metro area, I've seen far too often what the effects of alcohol and drunk driving can be, especially in affluent areas. I lost my first friend to a drunk driving accident at the age of 12. By the time I finished high school I lost at least 7 more...it might even have been more than that. My parents allowed me to drink at home, so it lost all its appeal for me, I never had to go out and prove anything. Unfortunately too many other parents didn't follow suit.

Moving up north for school and working in a largely agricultural area, I also saw the effects of drinking and underage kids in that environment. Way too many parents were either in denial of what their kids were up to, or they were supplying all the booze at parties but not providing rides home for the kids or making them spend the night. That right there takes irresponsiblilty to a whole new level.

I wish I knew what the answer was, but I think we definitely need to look beyond the "we'll lose money for our roads" argument. As has been mentioned, it may need to go back to a state by state basis...or just stay at 21. I'm not opposed to 19...just not sure if that is the best solution.

Side note...Hawaii raised their drinking age to 21 around the time I started college, but if you were 18 at the time the law was enacted, you were grandfathered in. The summer after my freshman year a high school friend and I went to Hawaii. I had just turned 19, looked about 15. We would go out to dinner and order drinks. We were never carded...but our drinks never came. We'd ask and ask...nothing happened. Finally I asked for a manager and asked what the deal was. They called the server over and asked why we were never served. The server said that we didn't look old enough to drink. Did she ever ask for our IDs? Nooooooo. This happened everywhere we went, they had no clue of the parameters of the law. We got a lot of free meals and drinks that trip, due to the idjits not verifying our ages.

[Salukulady]

I went to Hawaii at 18 was carded and served everywhere, no problem.

[Brown Eyed Girl]

I went to Hawaii at 18 was carded and served everywhere, no problem.

Was the drinking age 18 then? My point was that I was one of those grandfathered in after the age limit was raised. All they had to do was card us...but they chose not to card us and not to serve us, even after taking our drink orders.

[Salukulady]

If I was 18 and carded and served, the drinking age must have been 18.

[SunsetChef]

When I was 18, the drinking age was 18 in NY. I remember what I was like. I vote no.

I was there too, good job counselor. No.

[flipflopgirl]

i say yes...if you are old enough to go get your a$$ shot at for this country you should be able to have a friggin' legal beer before you go!